The Climate Movement’s 7 Characteristics, Imperatives, & Movement-building Goals
Olympian Fields of Action Series: Post #4
Since the climate challenge calls for speed, scale, and longevity, we need a moral movement:
big and broad and active enough
passionate enough
deep enough
dynamic enough
organic and strategic enough
together enough, and
long enough.
These seven characteristics are simultaneously seven Movement-building goals: to become what we need to be, we must become these seven to be set free from climate tyranny.
These seven characteristics are also seven imperatives. We must become them together to become what we are being called to do.
We must become the 7 to fulfill our climate calling.
As I will be discussing in many posts to follow, we must become them to fulfill our climate calling to make the impossible possible and the possible actual and the actual beautiful and our future come faster.
You might ask, shouldn’t “moral” be on the list?
Well, no, exactly.
We don’t need to become a moral movement because we are one already. Not because we are made up of individuals pure as the driven snow.
No. Of course we aren’t! (Have you met us?)
We are a moral movement because our vision, purpose and Major Goal makes us one. Because climate change and injustice are a moral affront that calls us out of our everyday lives to become a part of stopping bad stuff, setting wrong right, and making things better. Because our Movement Values of love, justice, beauty, freedom, creativity, wisdom, pragmatism, non-violence, sustainability, and success make us one.
As individuals we are quite flawed. Self-centered. Arrogant. Self-righteous. Quarrelsome. Obstinate. Timid. Hurtful. Selfish. Lazy. Cowardly.
As a movement we must not only overcome climate change, we must overcome the failings in ourselves.
We will never arrive, of course. But together we can become something we could never do alone. We can be a part of something better than ourselves. We can be a part of a moral movement that lives in and lives out our Movement Values and transforms the world.
Together we can become something we could never do alone, something better than ourselves.
A movement of flawed individuals will itself be flawed. It won’t be anywhere near perfect — except, perhaps, when we are a perfect mess!
But that doesn’t mean we aren’t a moral movement. Out of kairos-climate-time we have been called for such a moment as this, and it is our calling that makes our movement a moral one. We are one because of what we are striving to achieve. As individuals we aren’t necessarily moral much of the time, but our Climate Movement always is when we are stumbling forward to fulfill our calling, our purpose, our reason to exist. We aren’t necessarily moral, but our calling is.
We are a moral movement that must bring forth the better angels of our nature by living in and living out our Movement Values and by becoming big and broad enough, passionate enough, deep enough, dynamic enough, organic and strategic enough, together enough, long enough as we make our future come faster and the world more just and beautiful.
And in so doing we will become the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of the world as we overcome climate change by creating a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone and everything. Join us!
Remember to check out other posts in the Olympian Fields of Action series. If you are new, check out the Introductory Series. If you like this post, please “like,” comment, and share to help spread the word. And thanks for all you’re doing.